Hitchhiking back east, David discovered Greenwich Village , finding it an environment where he did not have to adjust but could simply hang out. At first he got a job washing dishes in the Gaslight Cafe . "Allen Ginsberg used to do readings there, Jack Elliot played guitar; I ran into Bob (Dylan) in the kitchen." David took acting classes, wrote poetry and songs, and began performing in Village clubs. When he began singing professionally, at the urging of Dylan and others, he changed his name to Blue. "Actually, I got the name from Eric Andersen. We were together one day, and I knew there were two other David Cohens in the music business, one with Country Joe and The Fish, the other a studio cat in LA. We felt that was too many. So Eric said: 'You’ve got such blue eyes, you should be David Blue.' I decided to do it. I called Ramblin’ Jack Eliot and Dylan because they had changed their names and Dylan thought it was very funny and started singing to me, 'It’s all over now, David Blue'."